Is it really you?
by Sneakyflea
Summary: Mac Taylor lost his heart twelve years ago. Now with all hope gone, the unthinkable happens. AU, dark themes. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

The door flew open with a cry of "NYPD" that echoed through the warehouse. Two men ran towards the back followed closely by Detective Flack and Detective Taylor. Sounds of footsteps sounded as the suspects tried running away from the two chasing them.

The detectives were at a disadvantage as they were quickly lost in the maze of rooms and passages. After a few minutes of chasing Flack ran into Mac,

"Damn bastards got away!" Flack panted slightly.

"Don't worry, they were surrounded." The optimist that was Mac Taylor answered, also slightly out of breath. They radioed their position and made their way back to the front, keeping a guarded eye on their surroundings.

"What do you think are in these rooms? Somehow I don't think they were built with the warehouse." Flack said.

"I don't know, let's find out shall we?" Mac said walking to one of these rooms and reaching for the door handle. He glanced at Flack who was covering Mac from behind. He opened the door and shined his flash light, illuminating the inside.

Mac drew a breath as his flash light fell over two women huddled in the corner. Flack swore softly and moved away to call in their find and request an ambulance. Mac made his way inside, speaking softly and showing his hands in front of him, hoping to portry a non-threatening way,

"Hi, my name is Mac. I'm here to help. I wont hurt you." He took a step forward after bending down to put his gun on the floor. The older of the two women pushed the younger one behind her and eyed him suspiciously. He went down on his knees and took his badge of the chain around his neck and showed it to them before shoving it across the floor. The girl picked it up and looked at it. A look of relief crossed her face and she took a tentative step towards Mac.

Mac stood his ground not making any sudden movements at all. The younger girl threw herself at Mac latching onto him like he was a lifeline. He causiouly put his arms around the small girl and stood up holding his hand out to the bigger girl, she took it, still looking at him suspicialy. They walked out and with some effort Mac handed the girls over to the paramedics. Other girls were coming out of similar rooms.

Only one room remained. It was to one side and as the officers moved from one side to the next that was the last room. Mac and Don moved towards the room and opened it cautiously. The room was different from the others. This one had a bed, where the others didn't and there was a small bed side lamp casting light into the small room. Mac walked into Don as he stopped suddenly.

"Don? What the….?" Mac said as he walked around the stationary detective. He looked at the woman and his heart froze. He glanced at the two small children clinging to the woman's legs and he knew immediately who their parents were. He looked into their familiar eyes and glanced at the woman again, she looked scared, but relieved at the same time. Don put his hand on Mac's shoulder as he took a step forward. His breath caught in his throat and his voice was hoarse as he choked out the one word. The woman gave a sad smile and bent down to whisper something in the children's ear. Both broke into a smile and looked at Mac shyly. Mac spoke again, but it sounded like a strangled sob as he took another step forward. Don tried to hold him back, but the woman moved forward reaching for Mac. They clung to each other as the little boy nudged the girl forward. The woman let go of Mac and turned to the small kids. The girl flung herself onto Mac and the boy held out his hand, Mac shook his hand solemnly.

Don turned around to give them some privacy and to see how the released women were holding up, leaving Mac to reconcile with Claire.

**So? What do you think? Should I keep it a one shot or go on with it? I wrote this thanks to an idea from CSIflea, she also helped with this chapter. Let me know. All mistakes are mine and as much as I would LOVE to own them, I don't. **

**As you might have guessed is that this story is a little AU, but not by much. And (I like Jo and Christine) I really like the idea of Claire and Mac and babies! LOL**

**Till later,**

**Sneaky.**


	2. Chapter 2

Mac stood by the door of the warehouse staring at the ambulances as they load the people in the back to take them to the hospital. Social Work is going to have a very busy weekend. His eyes travel to the last ambulance. The red-haired woman is sitting on the stretcher holding the little ones' hands while they are being checked out by the paramedics. The boy looks at him and smiles. On instinct he smiles back. Suddenly he feels a hand on his shoulder and turns around to see the worried eyes of Jo.

"Hey." He says and turns back to see the woman looking at him. He gives what he hopes is a reassuring smile. She smiles back and leans down to listen to something the little girl says.

"Hey. Who is she?" Jo asks. She's seen pictures, but finds it a little confusing to look at the woman who everyone had thought dead. Even Mac seems shocked.

"Claire," Mac's voice breaks a little, "She says she's Claire. She looks so much like her. And the little ones, they both look like her too." He shakes his head. Jo pulls him into a hug; he hugs back and steps away after a minute.

"We should make sure. DNA should tell us for sure." Jo says.

"Danny took a sample and I've already called Reed. He's going to the lab." The paramedic waves him over. He nods and turns to Jo, "Can you take over here? I want to go to the hospital with them."

"Sure, no problem." She squeezes his shoulder and with that he jogs over to the waiting ambulance, getting into the back. Jo watches them as he takes the woman's hand and the little boy gets onto his lap. She can't hold back a laugh at the shocked look on his face.

"Looks weird, but cute." A voice says behind her. She turns and finds Lindsay looking at the strange sight in the ambulance.

"Yeah, it is. Let's just hope that things work out for him. He won't make another slap from life." Jo says sadly. Lindsay just nods in agreement.

Meanwhile at the lab, Danny is busy running the DNA sample with his mind a million miles away. He jumps slightly as Reed taps him on his shoulder.

"Crap!"

"Sorry, Danny. I did call you." Reed says, and Danny doesn't miss the look of hope in his eyes.

"That's okay. It was my own fault." He moves to crab a second chair for Reed. He sits down and nods his thanks.

After a beat of uncomfortable silence, Danny asks, "Are you ready?"

Reed nods and suddenly looks very nervous. Danny grabs a swab and takes the reference sample.

"How long will it take?" Reed asks, still nervous.

"Not long. It's only a comparison." Danny explains as he enters the sample. "Let's grab a coffee while we wait." Reed follows him to the break room.

"What if it matches?" Reeds asks quietly after Danny got them coffee from the machine.

"Then you have a lot of catching up to do." Danny says. He feels sorry for the boy in front of him. Reed came looking for his mom, found his step-father, and became part of their lives and now his faced with the possibility that his mom might still be alive. With all these thoughts running through his mind, he begins to worry about Mac. It can't be easy for him either. For twelve years he had to live with the fact that the love of his life was killed – he didn't even have something to bury. Now he has to come to terms with having a wife and children. But before he can go on, his pager goes off, telling him the comparison is done.

"Come let's go. Let's see if you have a second chance with your mom." Danny says getting up, a silent Reed follows.

When Don arrived at the hospital he found Mac in the waiting room, looking worried.

"Hey, Mac!" He says as he walked closer.

"Hey." Mac answers as he looks at Don. He seemed to be in a daze.

"Are they ok?" Don asks pointing his thumb in the direction of the exam rooms.

"What? Oh, yeah. They are. Just a little malnourished and dehydrated. They are keeping them overnight as a precaution." Mac sounds a little confused.

"Mac, are you ok?" Don asks worriedly.

"You know for the first year after The Towers fell, I kept hoping. I hoped that maybe, hopefully, somehow, I'll find her. That maybe she was injured and couldn't get in touch. After a while I lost that hope, waiting instead for a body or proof that she was gone. Then when that didn't happen, I gave up. Later she was declared dead. I refused to hold even a memorial service, because that would mean she was really gone. Now twelve years later, she's alive and I don't know how to handle it. What do I say? How do I act?" Don sits listening to one of his oldest and best friends and it hits him how scared Mac is at that moment – an emotion he has never associated with the man.

"Do you love her?" Don asks quietly and laughs as he sees the glare Mac shoots his way.

"Of course I do! What kind of a question is that?" Mac scoffs. Suddenly he sits up as his phone goes off. He opens the text and begins to smile. He turns to Don and smacks him hard on the back. Don almost falls off his chair.

"Good news I take it?" He smiles at the pure joy in Mac's face.

"Danny and Reed are on their way. The sample was a match for mother and son." Mac was almost jumping out of his skin. Don just looks at him.

"Don, it means that she really is Claire. And yes, I love her more than my own life. I need to go to her." Mac suddenly looks lost again and Don chuckles as he gets up and takes him by the arm and walks him over to the exam room where Claire was waiting for her children. He laughed as Mac walked in and hugged Claire. He didn't miss the look of love and fear on his friends face as he looked at the red-haired woman. Don goes back to the waiting room to wait for Reed and Danny.

A little while later Mac was sitting on the bed next to Claire. He just can't get enough of staring at her. She smiles and takes his hand.

"You really have to stop staring at me." She jokes. He looks over to the next bed where the two children were sleeping.

"There's so much missing, it might take a while to catch up. Right now though, I just want to make sure that you don't go anywhere." He says, "All three of you."

"Glad to hear it, I don't want to go anywhere. Little Lewy can't stop talking about how cool you are and Annie, well she's in love with her Daddy."

"Lewy?" Mac asks looking over to the boy. He looks so much like Mac, it's uncanny.

"Short for Llewellyn." She smiles as realization dawns.

"You named them after me and your mother?" Mac asks in disbelief.

"Yeah, they've got two names each. Llewellyn Conrad Taylor and Annie Macaela Taylor. Parts of both of us." Claire looks at her children and then back at her husband, "Is that ok?"

Mac smiles at his wife; happy to start with the second chance they've been given. "More than ok, it's perfect." He leans forward and kisses her lightly on the lips.

Neither of them notices the team standing outside the window, happy to see the new found family. Reed has tears in his eyes as he looks to his mother and step-father. He feels blessed and sends up a prayer of thanks for this chance.

**There you go! I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you want me to go on….. I love Claire and Mac. **

**Oh, no beta, so the mistakes are mine. I only own the twins, the rest isn't mine (I'll put them back, I promise). Thanks to all the reviews, hope to get more from you. Please do remember that this is an AU**

**Sneaky**


	3. Chapter 3

Hey there!

Things have been really crazy and I would like to apologize for taking so long. I have decided to leave this story like this and end it. However, good news is that CSIflea will be taking it over and she will post it on her name as soon as she is done editing it. Thanks to all the readers out there and please go on reading when it comes out again. She has promised a lot of suspense, intrigue, hurt/comfort and her speciality- a lot of whump!

Later,

Sneakyflea


	4. Chapter 4

Hey there!

I'm sorry, but this is not an update. CSIflea have reposted the first two chapters of this story. It is known as "what was lost, is found". Please support her as you did me.

Thanks Sneaky!


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